Unfortunately, the glaring errors in this movie make it difficult to watch. Movies are supposed to make you forget your life and your surroundings. Good ones can do that. Some movies have elements that stop you from losing yourself in the story. Ingrid Bergman’s Swedish-cockney accent in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde; Marlon Brando’s clowning around in The Missouri Breaks; Robert Downey Jr’s twenty-first century American vernacular in his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes are glaring examples.

The writers responsible for the script of The Raven have made a few attempts at making the dialog match the wardrobe, but mostly their charaters talk the way they themselves probably do. Movie producers pay people to painstakingly research clothing, lighting, architecture but the writers appear unable to do a little research into the way people spoke in 1850s Baltimore.

Another major distraction is the sudden transformation of the Poe character. A self absorbed alcoholic is quite capable of great writing, but it is too much to accept that Poe can instantaneously acquire the mental and physical capacities to match wits with a criminal mastermind. There are other things about this movie that are troubling. The CGI blood looks CGI-ish, the supporting characters are underdeveloped to the point of invisibility, and the continuity is not continuous. On top of that, the film is far too reminiscent of the recent Sherlock Holmes movies and From Hell, a Johnny Depp movie from 2001.

A film showing Edgar Alan Poe solving crimes should not have been this unmemorable. There are so many possibilities: the drunken author fighting his demons to resuscitate his once fine reasoning abilities; the writer and the detective forming an uneasy alliance to foil the evil genius.

John Cusack and Alice Eve are hard-working actors, but Cusack could have benefitted by ignoring this project and Eve’s character could have been left out altogether. Like the circumstances of Edgar Allan Poe’s death, the motives of these actors is shroudd in mystery. Maybe one day someone will write a period movie where two characters named John Cusack and Alice Eve are coerced by supernatural forces into appearing in a dumb movie in order to save the lives of a basket of kittens.

On the face of it, this could be a perfectly respectable potboiler of a movie for an undemanding audience. Unfortunately some of the flaws are too big to go unnoticed, even by the least critical moviegoer.

Although there are masses of information you are supposed to assimilate in order to take control of your weight, you should always remember to check the calorie content of each of your meals. You can plan your meals so that you know how many calories you are eating at each sitting. Calorie information can be found on packaging in the supermarket, or you can use one of the calorie counter phone apps to make this job quick and easy.

A calorie is a unit of energy a person needs to think, feel and move at optimum efficiency. Each person’s body has a number of processes that change food into energy, and the collective name for these processes is “metabolism”. People who burn calories quickly are said to have a fast metabolism, and people who have difficulty burning calories have a slow metabolism. It is not possible to change the metabolism you were born with, but exercise can be the key to speeding up your metabolism.

If a person consumes double the quantity of calories required to survive and maintain a healthy weight, without using up the extra calories, they will add weight. At the same time, people who consume less than the ideal quantity of calories for their body weight will not be supplying their bodies with the energy necessary to live in a healthy way. If a man or woman keeps up with a nutritious diet with modest calorie content, they will naturally settle into a healthy weight. If they exercise regularly they will be able to maintain the desired weight by keeping their calorie intake to a reasonable level.

We all need calories to maintain our health, so we cannot abandon eating calorie-rich food altogether, but finding and maintaining a balanced calorie intake usually takes some research, effort and practice. If you are looking for quick general statistics, the US Department of Agriculture, which is the government agency responsible for advising Americans on nutrition, says that to survive, adult women should take in from 1,800 to 2,300 calories every day. For men, the daily recommendation for survival is between 2,000 and 2,500 calories.

There is a popular way to calculate the number of calories needed for daily life, called the Harris-Benedict equation. This calculation uses the Basal Metabolic Rate, or BMR – the amount of energy expended daily. The BMR figure is multiplied by a number that represents an individual’s activity level, and the product of the calculation is the number of calories the person needs to maintain their present weight.

Based on the Harris-Benedict equation, some experts calculate that a woman aged between 18 and 35 will need 1,760 calories per day to maintain a weight of 45 kilograms. A man of the same age will need 2,480 calories to maintain a weight of 60 kilos. Calorie calculators using the Harris-Benedict equation can be found on the internet.

There are various features that need to be thought about when trying to calculate the best calorie level for weight loss. Smoking, for example, can keep a person’s weight down but carries a high risk of lung diseases. Heredity can also play a part in determining a healthy weight.

The level of physical activity each person engages in determines whether they need more or less calories than the recommended minimum. Someone who expends a lot of energy doing physical work every day would need to consume more calories, and an office worker or a bed ridden invalid would need to consume less.

In general, a nutritious diet will include unsaturated fats, protein and carbohydrates from grains, fruit and vegetables. Keep sugary foods to an absolute minimum, and no more than 2,000 grams of sodium. Canned, frozen and packaged foods frequently have too much sodium, so be sure to read the labels before you buy. Saturated fats which are derived from red meat should be kept to a minimum, so one or two meals every week should contain no meat. If you keep starchy foods like rice, bread or pasta, eat small portions of the whole-grain kind. If you want to snack, choose from the range of foods that contain high levels of fiber and water. Strawberries, pears, bananas and apples make healthy snacks.

The desire to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight is just one element in a regime to keep healthy. Getting into the habit of refusing high calorie food is another. Much of the processed food available in stores is high in calorie content, and if a person has a hectic daily schedule, they will usually choose the most appealing food and easily prepared meal. Fast food is cheaper than the ingredients of a fresh food meal and takes no time to prepare.

There are cultural elements that can distract people from keeping calorie intake to an acceptable level. The food that was on the table during childhood governs food preferences in adult life. Many ethnic foods contain rich sauces, and guests in restaurants or at family gatherings are encouraged to eat in large quantities.

If you are interested in maintaining a healthy weight, you will need to keep an ongoing record of how many calories you consume each day. Write it down so that you will have solid knowledge of your calorie intake over a lengthy period of time. Keeping an accurate record of your dieting efforts, successes and failures will be a great contributor to your overall success.

My prediction for 2012 is that, like other major predictions of the end of the world or the end of civilisation as we know it, the whole thing will be a non-event. Apparently the Mayan people had a calendar that starts at creation and ends in 2012. Experts in Mayan culture say that the end of the calendar is no more than a turning point or transition, just like our celebration of the new year.

So the whole thing is based on a misunderstanding of the Mayan calendar which is not based on any kind of notion that we would regard as scientific today. But not many of us are scientific by nature. Whatever really happens in the year 2012, there will be lots of people saying, “I told you so”.

The case of Jaycee Dugard, missing since 1991 and found in a backyard prison, has unearthed a psychic named Dayle Schear who says she knew all along that Jaycee was alive. She claims that she not only knew that the girl was still alive but she also knew what the general area where she was found looked like.

Psychics always find a way to be vindicated after the fact. We hear of psychics furnishing the police with information on a widely publicized case but no crime has ever been solved using the information given by a psychic. You have the internet at your disposal – go prove me wrong.

Haunting Evidence, a documentary television series detailing the efforts of a psychic profiler, a medium, and a paranormal investigator to investigate “cold case” homicide and missing persons cases ran for three seasons without one case being solved. Psychics like Alison Dubois and Sylvia Browne make a lot of money talking about their psychic abilities. Why don’t they take a break and help the FBI and the police find some missing people or solve some murders?

This video demonstrates one psychic’s attempts to get information about tools that might have been involved in crimes.

Reading about ghosts in this way leads us to believe that because scientific-style presentation can be applied to stories of ghostly haunting, they must have been thoroughly investigated and found to be true. Let’s take a look at three classifications applied to ghosts.

There’s what psychic investigators call residual haunting which means that energy is left at a place after a particularly intense event like a rape or a murder or, on the other hand, after a period of happy experiences. In this kind of haunting, witnesses see an event reenacted by the ghosts. Hauntings have often been proved to be fraudulent and the signs of ghostly activity such as cold spots and variations in electromagnetic radiation have been proved by scientists to be due to natural causes. When you think about it, if hauntings can be explained by violent or otherwise extreme acts occurring in places, there should be ghosts on every street corner and every suburban home.

Poltergeists are manifestations of psychic energy present at a particular place. These events are associated often with the presence of teenage girls or people undergoing a time of emotional turbulence. These people are supposed to intentionally or unintentionally, move inanimate objects with psychic energy that is available to them. Of course, the skeptical point of view of these occurrences is that there is deliberate deception happening or the witnesses are deceiving themselves. Residents in houses affected by poltergeist activity have been caught by video cameras throwing objects in an attempt to fool witnesses into thinking they were seeing something supernatural.

Another supernatural manifestation is that of Satan or some other being from Hell. These are said to inhabit the bodies of living people and the unfortunate person must undergo an exorcism to rid him or her of the demon. Many skeptics believe that belief in these activities are the result of past traditions of people interpreting what we call mental illness as possession by Satan or some other demon. Some writers also believe that demonic possession has been largely replace by alien abduction as the delusion of choice for some individuals with mental or sexual problems.

How are we to regard reported ghostly activities? If we are honest, we cannot make a judgement without directly witnessing the phenomenon ourselves. We can have an opinion about stories we read or see in the movies, but this will be based on whether we have a natural tendency towards belief or skepticism. The fact that people have been telling these stories for hundreds of years does not make them true. We have all had the experience of stretching the truth a little to make a good story and there’s no reason to believe that this human failing is not the origin of stories of the supernatural.

This video is one of many on YouTube that may be genuine footage of something unexplained or a downright fraud.

Many people every day use search engines to find out how to burp loud. It says a lot that significantly fewer ask how to burp loud-LY. I guess if your activities are crude so is your language. So, for anybody who has heard others burp with great volume, and wishes to reach similar heights of accomplishment, here is how you burp loud.

Jon Oesch of Detroit once held the world record for loud burping. His advice on how to do it are: first, take twenty or thirty big swallows of air. Now, imagine somebody is going to punch you in the stomach and tense your muscles to take the blow. Next, just let the air out all at once. The quicker the air escapes, the louder the burp.

Jon Oesch lost his world record to Paul Hunn who can burp at over 118 decibels compared to Jon’s 115 decibels. The video shows Paul Hunn doing what he does best.

Defenders of astrology will tell you that we are subject to so many other influences that it is impossible to be one hundred per cent accurate, but in what way CAN they be accurate? If you gather a crowd of people together and ask them details of their lives certain remarkable coincidences will occur. The likelihood of two people having the same birthday for instance. Of the thousands of people who read a particular magazine’s horoscope of course some are going to feel that the horoscope was accurate. There are also likely to be thousands who might notice the occasional uncanny coincidence between their lives and the horoscope, and there are all those people who habitually read the horoscope as part of their daily routine and have not found it to be particularly accurate.

James Randi once conducted an experiment with some college students who gave him some details about where and when they were born. He then had horoscopes done for each student. The result is on this video.

Technorati Tags: astrology, horoscope

Psychologists of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were very interested in the work of stage magicians as it related to misdirection and suggestion. Using the scientific knowledge at their disposal they were able to discover practically nothing about how magicians were able to manipulate audiences.

Modern psychologists have discovered value in using illusions similar to those used by stage magicians to help them understand how the mind works. Part of the art of misdirection employed by magic practitioners is a phenomenon that psychologists call “change blindness”.

Change blindness refers to our inability to see huge changes in a situation we are supposedly focusing our attention on. Here is a video showing how we exhibit change blindness.

One of the most startling experiments showing change blindness featured a video clip of a gorilla walking onto a basketball court. Hardly anyone noticed the appearance of the gorilla and when it was pointed out, some even accused the experimenters of switching videos.

Technorati Tags: misdirection, magic, Change blindness

But then everything is subjective:

“I do not believe in astrology; but then, people of my sign never do.” Dr. Charles Tart, psychologist
The Scientific Evidence Suggestive of Astrology

Here is a list of scientific validations for astrology. After the reading the detailed article that follows this list, I am confused about what these points are supposed to prove. This is on top of the fact that some of the “evidence” is not evidence at all.

“The following are some of the scientific discoveries that have validated astrological concepts:

(1) Serial killers can be identified through a person’s astrological birth chart.
(2) There is a correlation between a person’s chosen profession and their astrological birth chart.
(3) Mental illness can be predicted by astrology.
(4) Fetuses might be affected by the movement of the sun, moon, and planets as they interfere with the Earth’s magnetic field which may have an influence on the fetuses occupation later in life.
(5) Women can use the lunar cycle for purposes of contraception.
(6) Many terrestrial phenomena are influenced by electromagnetic and gravitational effects originating within the solar system.
(7) Sun spot activity affects the molecular structure of water.
(8) Sun spot activity affects the molecular structure of blood.
(9) Potatoes, rats, fiddler crabs, and oysters are all governed by lunar periods.
(10) A theoretical model using principles of mathematics and physics may account for human consciousness and process as it relates to the zodiac.
(11) The concept of karma was demonstrated to be a reality in a study which confirmed that acting selflessly has rewards.”

Now read the full article at http://www.near-death.com/experiences/articles012.html

A statement typical of the astrology believer’s attitude to scientific dismissal is this one:

“Unfortunately most Astronomy books don’t even mention the existence of Astrology. Most Astronomers just ignore the subject with no true examination ,only a scientific holier than thou attitude. It should be noted that many of the early accepted unquestioned ideas of Astronomy have been proved wrong in the past.”

http://www.phact.org/e/astrolgy.htm

I can’t see where there would be a place for astrology in a book on astronomy. As I understand it, astronomy is a study of the physical world and has very little common ground with astrology. But the link I quoted above has a variety of points of view and is worth a read.

The Skeptic’s Dictionary has a comprehensive article on astrology. Unlike articles written by believers in astrology, it has an abundance of scientific evidence. Here is a statement that I can’t find a convincing rebuttal to in any argument for astrology:

“Defenders of astrology are fond of noting that ‘the length of a woman’s menstrual cycle corresponds to the phases of the Moon’ and ‘the gravitational fields of the Sun and Moon are strong enough to cause the rising and falling of tides on Earth.’ If the Moon can affect the tides, then surely the Moon can affect a person. But what is the analog to the tides in a person? We are reminded that humans begin life in an amniotic sea and the human body is 70 percent water. If oysters open and close their shells in accordance with the tides, which flow in accordance with the electromagnetic and gravitational forces of the Sun and Moon, and humans are full of water, then isn’t it obvious that the Moon must influence humans as well? It may be obvious to some, but the evidence for these lunar effects is lacking.”

Here is a video clip from the “Cosmos” TV program. It’s called “Triumph Of Modern Science Over Medieval Superstition”.

Technorati Tags: Astrology

The Celtic region of the world came under Roman control in the year 43A.D. Over the four hundred years of Roman occupation the Celtic celebration at the beginning of winter became amalgamated with two Roman celebrations: one honoring the dead and one honoring the tree goddess, Pomona. As the Christian church became the spiritual authority in regions that formerly followed Roman traditions, an attempt was made to replace the “pagan” celebration with All Saints Day on November 1 and All Souls Day which is November 2. The Middle English word for All Saints Day was “Alholowmesse” which later became All-hallowmas. This led to the old Roman celebration being called All-Hallows Eve, and later Halloween.

Nowadays it is impossible for us to relate to the living conditions that gave rise to festivals like Halloween. Today it is a time for kids to have fun and for adults to sell crappy merchandise.

This video gives a potted history of the modern celebration of Halloween.

Technorati Tags: Halloween